Article

Souris (Man)

Published Online September 11, 2012

Last Edited March 4, 2015

Souris, Manitoba, incorporated as a town in 1903, population 1837 (2011c), 1772 (2006c). The Town of Souris is located at the junction of Plum Creek and the SOURIS RIVER, 45 km by road southwest of Brandon.

Souris, Manitoba, incorporated as a town in 1903, population 1837 (2011c), 1772 (2006c). The Town of Souris is located at the junction of Plum Creek and the SOURIS RIVER, 45 km by road southwest of Brandon. Souris is known for its semiprecious agate stones, used in costume jewellery, and for one of the longest (177 m) suspension footbridges in Canada. The Souris area has seen Native warfare, fur-trading rivalries, Red River brigade buffalo hunts, and feudallike settlements under English and French landowners.

The townsite's first permanent settlers arrived 1880, followed in 1881 by a group of Ontarians. Souris, then called Plum Creek, was soon a developing agricultural centre. During WWII the town had a large Commonwealth air school. Souris services the surrounding agricultural region (grain production, dairying, purebred stock breeding) and has a few small industries.